Judy's Review:

No one looks forward to their 40th birthday, but for Emma it’s more than a fear of getting older. At the same age her mother lost her mind. And when, as her own fortieth approaches, Emma can’t sleep, her brain becomes foggy, confused and paranoid, she fears she’s heading the same way. After all, when she was a little girl her mother would tell her they shared the same “bad blood” and it ran in the family. On the night of her birthday her mother had a complete psychotic breakdown and violently attacked Emma’s older sister.

Ever since, Emma has refused to see her mother, now confined to a psychiatric hospital, but there’s no escaping the psychological legacy that awaits her daughter. And as her insomnia worsens and her behaviour becomes increasingly unhinged, she is terrified she will repeat her mother’s fate and become a danger to her own children.

Richard's Review:

This is an utterly gripping and unsettling psychological thriller. As Emma’s insomnia and paranoia increase, the reader can’t trust anyone in the book, including Emma’s own mind. Who’s hiding dark secrets? Everyone, or is Emma her own worst enemy, deluded and psychotic?

Reading INSOMNIA, you can’t help wondering about which terrifying traits you’ve inherited from your own family. Are we fated to repeat our genetic inheritance? Or could someone be gaslighting Emma into believing madness is her fate?

We both loved this book. It’s dark, dense and visceral. A tremendous achievement - and yes, it may keep you awake.